Canadian National 6060
Canadian National 6060 is a 4-8-2 Mountain type steam locomotive built in 1944 by the Montreal Locomotive Works as the first of the U-1-f class for the Canadian National Railway (CN).
Canadian National 6060 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Canadian National No. 6060 at the Spadina roundhouse, preparing to pull an excursion train in 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
6060 was constructed in October 1944 by the Montreal Locomotive Works in Montreal, Quebec as the prototype locomotive of the Canadian National Railway's (CN) U-1-f class 4-8-2 "Mountain types".[1] It was initially assigned to pull mainline passenger trains until 1959 when it was retired and sat in storage on a siding outside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, awaiting to be sent to the scrap yard, but was eventually rescued for preservation by CN engineer Harry R.J. Home, and was put on static display at the Jasper station in Jasper, Alberta during 1962.[1] Ten years later, CN reacquired 6060, and they restored it to operating condition for excursion service by 1973.[2]
In 1980, to commemorate the Province of Alberta's 75th anniversary, 6060 was presented to the people of Alberta as a gift. After more than five years of retirement, it was restored a second time with the help of Harry Home, the Province of Alberta and volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. 6060 travelled under her own power to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1986 to participate in the Steam Expo, part of that year's World's Fair alongside several other steam locomotives, including Canadian Pacific (CPR) 4-6-4 2860, CPR 4-6-2 1201, CN 4-6-0 1392, and Union Pacific (UP) 0-6-0 4466.[3]
After several years of storage at the Alberta Railway Museum near Edmonton, 6060 was moved to Stettler in 1998 to operate regularly in the service of Alberta Prairie Steam Tours (APST). More than a decade later, it continued to transport thousands of excursion passengers every summer until it went out of service in 2011. Nine years later, the APST began performing an overhaul on the No. 6060 locomotive, and as of 2022, the overhaul is still under way.[4]
See also
- Canadian National 6077 (Another preserved CN U-1-f class locomotive)
- Canadian National 6213
- Canadian National 3254
- Grand Trunk Western 6039
References
- Comish, Lloyd; Comish, Elaine (Winter 2002). "Steam Locomotive 6060" (PDF). On Track. Railway and Forestry Museum. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- Vondrak, Otto M. (September 17, 2020). "Canadian National 6060". Railfan & Railroad. White River Productions. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
- "May 2021 Marks the 35th Anniversary of 'Steam Expo' Held during Expo '86" (PDF). WCRA News. Vol. 61, no. 2. West Coast Railway Association. May 2021. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- "Restoration work begins on CN 6060". Trains. Kalmbach Media. June 30, 2020. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
Further reading
- Lorne, Perry (1973). Renaissance 6060. ASIN B0007B47WY.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canadian National 6060. |
- Rocky Mountain Rail Society - official website of Canadian National 6060